In 1988, Warner Communications bought the rights to "Happy Birthday to You" for $25 million. The song earns about $1 million a year in royalties. The song is expected to enter the public domain when the copyright expires in 2010.

Careful restaurants eager to avoid the legal confrontation with the likes of ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, which polices the use of "Happy Birthday To You") have come up with alternative birthday songs.

Intellectual property law is like taxes and is dependent on voluntary compliance. We all know how forgiving the IRS is for those that don't volunteer to comply.